The present invention relates to a shopping cart attachment and, more particularly, to apparatus for connection to a conventional shopping cart to allow the shopping cart to be used by elderly, disabled and/or mobility impaired persons who otherwise use a walker and/or crutches.
As the number of older Americans increases there exists a growing need to provide mechanisms that will allow those older Americans, as well as handicapped individuals, to perform basic and everyday shopping tasks. Though some elderly, disabled or partially disabled persons can have others do their shopping for them, there is a large number of individuals who must or prefer to do their own shopping chores.
A number of different types of constructions have been proposed for incorporating braking mechanisms into shopping carts for use by elderly, disabled persons. Those devices typically include the provision of a displaceable bar adjacent the shopping cart handle. In use, the bar is squeezed toward the shopping cart handle to release the braking mechanism. Such contemporary devices typically rely upon the cart handle to serve as the supporting surface for the disabled user. Because the cart handles are typically disposed above a convenient support level, the ability of such a device to provide such support is substantially limited. Moreover, the direction of the cart handle, though convenient for pushing, is less useful to support the weight of the user.
Accordingly, there is a need for a shopping cart attachment for elderly or disabled individuals that provides a more conveniently located support surface disposed apart from a cart handle, and with a braking mechanism actuator disposed adjacent the support surface.